In domestic appliances, operation to carry out any of a number of different operating cycles selectable by the user is controlled mechanically via electromechanical timers or electronically via electronic microprocessor based on sequential logic controls. A dishwasher, for example, is pre-programmed to operate in any of a number of different automatic cycles, and within each cycle, to operate in any of a preselected group of "options". Each automatic cycle comprises a sequence of washing, rinsing, and drying operations, such as a pre-rinse cycle, a plurality of wash cycles, at least one post-rinse cycle and a dry cycle, together comprising a NORMAL dishwasher cycle. Other automatic cycles contain greater or fewer separate operations, having durations controlled by the timer or solid state clock.
Options enable the user to tailor each automatic cycle to the user's requirements. For example, an AIR DRY option carried out during a NORMAL automatic cycle deenergizes the heater during the dry cycle to enable dishes to air dry and thereby conserve energy. Of course, only those options which are compatible with the particular automatic cycle being executed by the appliance can be selected.
The dishwasher or other appliance is provided with a control panel having an array of switches and buttons that enable the user to select manually the particular cycles and options desired, depending upon the particular load being washed or otherwise processed. In the event that no selections are made by the user, the appliance will operate in a "default" cycle which, in accordance with the prior art and in the case of a dishwasher, consists of the cycle and option selected by the user when the dishwasher was last operated. The default operation of the dishwasher or other appliance may, however, have no relationship to the types of load that the user tends to wash or otherwise process and no relationship to the user's habits or inclinations.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide an appliance control that selects, as a default cycle, a cycle that is automatically determined as a result of patterns of prior usage of the appliance.
Another object is to provide a method of and apparatus for controlling an appliance to operate, in the absence of a current user selection, in a default cycle determined by the cycle selections most commonly previously made by the user.
Another object is to provide, in a dishwasher control, default cycle and option selections that are based upon the favorite selections made previously by the user.
An additional object is to provide a method of and system for establishing and displaying to the user a default cycle in accordance with previously established patterns of usage of the appliance.